In the fifth inning, as Cincinnati trailed the Rockies by a 3-1 score on Thursday afternoon, reliever Michael Lorenzen was used as a pinch-hitter for starter Tyler Mahle to lead off. Given a 2-0 fastball by Rockies starter Tyler Anderson, Lorenzen connected and sharply lined a single to left field…

According to Statcast™, the ball’s exit velocity off Lorenzen’s bat was 116.5 mph. It was the highest exit velocity a Reds hitter has recorded since Statcast™ began tracking in 2015. No other Cincinnati player had previously hit a ball that had more than a 115-mph exit velocity.

But wait, there’s more!

Lorenzen’s feat also happens to mark the hardest hit by a pitcher in the Majors since Statcast™ began tracking.

Pretty cool, huh?

Not as cool as, like, winning games, but it’s something anyway.

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